With a Final Breath
by RisingStar313
Summary: "They found Leo lying in a mound of rubble... still breathing, albeit with some effort and a painful wheezing sound..." Alternative death scene for Leo in BoO.


_**Alternate death scene for Leo- kind of how I imagined it before it happened, felt like writing it.**_

Piper regained consciousness just in time to see the shards of their warship falling through the sky in flames.

No words managed to escape her lips, but she could think only one word: _Leo._

But as her vision cleared, she thought she spotted something else through the smoke. Amidst the destruction was a mass of bronze plating, emerging from the wreckage as it flew through the sky. _Festus. Thank the gods._ That must have been what Leo was working on in all those hours spent in the hull.

Leo. In her haze, Piper still couldn't detect any sign of her friend. She squinted at the metal dragon, but there was no one on his back. The explosion… it was so strong… _no._ Piper couldn't allow herself to think that way just yet. Leo was fireproof. There had to be a way he could survive. She scanned the sky more intently, and after several desperate seconds, she spied something small, lean, and definitely on fire spiraling toward the ground.

Fortunately, Festus had evidently found him as well, and immediately surged downward to catch the motionless boy in his talons. Piper prayed to every god she could think of, even the big one she hadn't spoken to in years. At her side, she felt someone's fingers envelop her own. Until that moment, she had forgotten Jason was there, and he shot her a reassuring gaze, which she returned gratefully.

The eagle which had been carrying the two set them down swiftly, and not stopping to regain their balance, Piper and Jason sprinted to where Festus had already landed. They found Leo laying on a mound of rubble, battered and bloodied, his eyes closed and head lolling in groggy pain, but still breathing, albeit with some effort and a painful wheezing sound.

Jason stood by nervously as Piper kneeled, placing his head in her lap. At her touch, Leo opened his eyes and attempted a cheeky grin. "Hey, Beauty Queen. Guess we did it, huh?"

Piper let out something between a sob and a laugh as she replied, "Guess so, Repair Boy. Though I think you're going to have a lot of cleaning up to do, with this mess."

"A mechanic's work is never done, is it?"

"Never," Jason piped in, squatting down to join them.

"Whatever, Sparky." Leo coughed, then winced. "You can help out, since you won't be busy with that whole praetor business."

"You just have to rub that in, don't you?"

"Of course I do. It's my job as official-scrawny-best-friend to give you as hard of a time as possible, is it not?"

"Leo," Piper interrupted, "we need to get you to the infirmary."

But the mechanic shook his head. A resolved expression came over his face. "We both know it's too late for that, Piper."

She stared at him in disbelief. The reality of the situation hit her suddenly, like a wall of concrete collapsing on top of her and crushing her lungs.

Jason seemed to sense it too, scooting in closer and gripping his friend's hand. Leo's eyes fluttered as his form slumped further into the rubble. Piper stroked her forehead soothingly, blinking away the tears and struggling to find words. Again, Leo managed a pained grin.

"Lighten up, Beauty Queen. I still have promises to keep. Besides, now that Dirt Face is out of the way, maybe you two can finally enjoy yourselves without, like, fighting an army in between."

"But we'll need your groan-worthy sense of humor," she replied in a choked voice, but letting a small grin slip onto her face despite herself. "And your expert tofu tacos."

"Yeah," Jason added, "who's gonna be our duel repair-man-slash-bad-boy-extreme?"

"You'll think of something," Leo said, his intonation becoming increasingly raspy. Then he let out another cough, followed by a staggered breath and a flutter of his eyelids. With difficulty, he managed, "Look. It's been a ride. A crazy one. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's been an honor."

Piper sniffed, and simply whispered, "Please, Leo."

The grin persisted. "Don't worry about me, Beauty Queen. I'll be okay."

Leo took one more deep breath, filling his chest, then letting out softly as his eyes fell closed, his expression oddly peaceful.

The heroes simply stayed, unmoving, for several seconds. Then Piper leaned down slowly and placed a kiss on the boy's brown forehead. And then she lost it, sobbing uncontrollably over him, the deepest sorrow she'd ever known consuming her whole being, starting with her throbbing heart and spreading all the way to her fingertips. She wasn't sure how long she sat there, but it wasn't long before the rest of the crew arrived. An eerie silence settled over them as they circled him in vigil. Jason took Piper's hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

Wordlessly, Hazel knelt at Piper's other side. She pulled out from her pocket a flask of red liquid, a desperately hopeful look on her face as she met Piper's eyes. _The physician's cure._ Of course. Once again, Piper found herself praying as she took it with shaking hands and poured it gently into Leo's mouth. _Please work. Oh gods, please work. Please, please just work._ For several seconds no one dared breathe or blink.

Then Leo's eyes flew open as his lungs filled with air. He looked up with a startled expression, which faded into both tiredness and relief with each following breath. Piper was so beside herself with joy that she could think of nothing to do but throw her arms around his shoulders and kiss his head. He laughed softly.

"Jeez, don't strangle me. I've already died once today."

Chuckling herself, she released him, still teary-eyed. Jason came in next, giving him a hug and ruffling his curly black hair. Hazel kissed him on the cheek, Frank patted him firmly on the shoulder, Percy clapped him on the back and Annabeth gently squeezed his arm. All the action on the battlefield had stopped, replaced by shock at the fiery display in the sky that had occurred just minutes ago.

As he struggled to sit up, Leo turned back to Hazel. "You know, you didn't mention how much this whole resurrection things hurts. Being dead sucked. But the physician's cure? That stuff is _worse._ "

Hazel rolled her eyes and swatted him lightly on the arm. "Don't joke about this."

Leo sighed, smiling. "Fine. I am glad to be alive. And seriously, I love you guys. You're awesome."

Jason and Percy helped Leo stand, then supported his weight all the way back to the Big House. On the way they ran into Coach Hedge, who held a small bundle in his hands.

"Look alive, cupcakes. There's a handsome new satyr in town. Meet Chuck." Piper peered down at the squirming goat-baby, and grinned.

"He's beautiful, Coach."

The satyr grinned proudly. "He'll be off winning his own battles and killing stuff before long."

"Right… well, congratulations." They continued as a group to the infirmary, where a couple of Apollo kids wordlessly ushered them to an empty bed and helped lower Leo onto the mattress before looking over his remaining injuries. The cure had evidently taken care of anything fatal, but he was still rather worse for wear after the explosion and everything else.

Piper looked around. There were so many wounded, with medics rushing everywhere. One of the girls who had been attending to Leo shifted her focus to the rest of the seven, insisting that they sit while she got bandages, gauze, ice packs and stitches, checking each one of them. Around the infirmary she recognized Will Solace, who took only a moment to wave at them before rushing to the aid of other campers. A few of Leo's brothers and sisters had noticed his entrance and came over to say hi and update him on the happenings at camp over the last couple of months. Lacy and Mitchell were both nursing wounded shoulders, but waved eagerly and Piper when they caught her eye. Even Drew Tanaka, with her left arm in a sling, nodded in acknowledgement.

By the end of the day, things had quieted down slightly, but there were still too many campers who needed medical help, and too many who were unaccounted for. Will kept wiping the sweat off his brow and stealing occasional hopeful glances at the door, as if waiting for someone. Leo had slept for about an hour, and now seemed a little more like his usual perky self.

Percy scooted his chair a little closer to Leo. "Hey man. You know… I did mean what I said back there in the fight with Nike. Anything you need to go find Calypso, I'm happy to help. Just let me know."

Leo was pensive for a moment, then grinned. "Thanks man. I'll be taking you up on that as soon as Solace lets me out of here."

Piper took Leo's hand, as if she wanted to make sure he was actually here. Then she took Jason's with a smile. She panned her gaze over her friends. Percy and Annabeth were speaking in low voices with their heads very close, and Hazel had fallen asleep on Frank's shoulder. The seven of them had sailed across the ocean, fought gods, monsters and giants, saved the world as they knew it and come back from the freaking dead. Not bad for a band of juvenile delinquents.

Not bad at all.


End file.
